The Book of Mormon

Matt Stone and Trey Parker, creators of South Park, took their relentless irreverence to Broadway and although some may have been praying for them to get their comeuppance, that didn't happen. Instead, The Book of Mormon, co-created by lyricist Robert Lopez (Tony-award winner for Avenue Q) was a hit right from the start when it opened on Broadway in 2011, making back its investors' money in just nine months. And now, it's on the road and coming to the Hobby Theater Center, courtesy of Gexa Energy Broadway. The somewhat involved plot centers on two Mormon missionaries who've gone to a remote area of Uganda to spread the good word, only to find that their goals and those of the villagers they've come to convert are not at all the same. Grey Henson, a 2012 Carnegie Mellon graduate, who plays the repressed Elder McKinley (with the signature number ''Turn It Off''), says the musical has been so successful because ''it's so different and edgy and people feel so naughty to come see it.'' There's bad language throughout, so don't bring the youngest of kids; in fact, if South Park offends you, this might be one to miss. But realize that it won nine Tony Awards including one for Best Musical and also won a Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album. And according to Henson, followers of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) not only come to see the play, but get the religious jokes that many in the audience miss. The Mormon Church even advertised in the musical's playbill with the legend: ''You've seen the play, now read the book,'' Henson says.